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From The Bench

With the firing of Houston Nutt (and I was years ahead of the mob in
calling for his firing, by the way), new coach Bobby Petrino came in
with high expectations from the fans for a dynamic aerial assault. What
we got was a 5-7 team with a defense that gave every other team a great
opportunity to pad its offensive stats. While the sports columnist of
the statewide daily and the marks on the Internet paint a
sunshine-pumping picture, let’s be honest that Petrino’s first year
was not a success. In my annual tradition, it’s time to let the grades
roll on Petrino…

In the flurry of responses that I got last week from my column pointing out the glories of War Memorial Stadium and how improbable victories are found there, many took umbrage to it.

Games in War Memorial Stadium are labeled for history with descriptors such as the Immortal Teddy Barnes Catch or the Miracle on Markham. Games in Fayetteville, meanwhile, are most noted by the Great Shootout, which was the most heart-breaking loss in Razorback history.

And it starts again. Bobby Petrino, in his first year as head coach, is undefeated in Little Rock.

All the previous Razorback coaches of any worth post-Broyles all stayed undefeated in Little Rock for some time. It took four seasons before Lou Holtz lost his first game in Little Rock. The same can be said about Ken Hatfield. Houston Nutt took seven seasons before the first loss came. Beginning in 1998, the Hogs have defended the home turf of War Memorial Stadium to the tune of 24 wins and two losses. That is an amazing winning percentage of more than 92 percent.

After the South Carolina, blaming the starting quarterback would be too easy, just as giving him too much credit this season has been too easy for all those who said Houston Nutt held him back while snapping the ball to Darren McFadden too many times last year. The starting QB has thrown interceptions at too brisk of a pace for this team to have any success. But the problems of this team are very broad.

If you were/are one of the people who hated Houston Nutt, this is vindication Saturday.

The Razorbacks face Ole Miss this weekend, and it will be the hardest ticket to get in Fayetteville since Texas came to town in 2004 to hand the Hogs a two-point loss, which is appropriate since Ole Miss will now assume the mantle as Arkansas’ chief rival and the game that the fans circle on the calendar. “Ole Miss Week” can’t be far behind if the coming circus even comes close to living up to its billing.

Beating Auburn was a feel good win because you have to love it when Auburn is more messed up than the Hogs.

After the supposed moral victory last week in only allowing Florida to score 38 on the Hogs at home, the win against the Tigers was real. Auburn was a good team and just a few weeks removed from the top 10, but it is now a team that has lost on back-to-back weekends to Vanderbilt and now Arkansas. After firing their offensive coordinator, they are definitely reeling.

While the Petrino surrogates in the media would like you to believe otherwise, this may be the 100-year flood for Razorback football ? it is one of the worst teams fielded by the University in a century.

Yet what did we hear after the horrendous loss to Florida, a loss in which yet another team covered an embarrassing three-touchdown spread on Arkansas (with a touchdown to spare added by Florida)?